FOUR young children were left orphaned yesterday following the tragic deaths of their parents who died within 24 hours of one other.

The children's father was found dead at a house in Co Clare yesterday afternoon while their 32-year-old mother died at the family home at Ash Grove in Newcastlewest, Co Limerick, on Tuesday. State Pathologist Marie Cassidy carried out a post-mortem on the body of Winifred 'Winnie' O'Connor nee Harty at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick yesterday.

Gardai say they are treating the tragedy as a "sudden death".

The woman's husband John 'Johnny' O'Connor, also in his 30s, was found dead yesterday at a house in Sixmilebridge. His death is also not being treated as suspicious. The couple's oldest child is seven. The family were settled members of the Travelling community.